The Trickster
by piratewitch92
Summary: A short Loki AU plot bunny. When young padawan Animy is captured by a mysterious Sith Lord known as the Trickster, she gets a new perspective of the Force. Set after the original Trilogy. Oneshot.


I

Animy pace the darkened room anxiously, testing every window and door for a chance to escape. Right now, the danger of space would be a far more welcome fate than being confined to the mysterious Trickster's bedroom. She had no clue what the Sith Lord had planned for her and she had neither intention nor desire to find out. The padawan would not be so easily swayed by the vast array of her favorite intergalactic goodies beckoning her from the table. Although she was quite curious as to how they even knew…

"Well, well, well… This room has certainly never looked so beautiful before." Animy turned at the velvety voice, facing the Trickster as he entered the room. He was stripped of the menacing armor from earlier, clad simply in a loose dark green tunic and black slacks and boots. "It has been quite some time since a fair maiden has graced my bedroom."

"So I'm not the first. A charming seduction to begin with." The Sith Lord seemed shocked by the accusation.

"Now, my dear, who said anything about seduction? I merely wish to share a mean with you." He sat at the glass table, never taking his gaze off her. He left an obvious amount of room for her to sit beside him, framing a space on the tiny loveseat. "Surely, you must be famished."

"Hardly." She warily made her way around the table, keeping a close eye on the Trickster. On his belt, she spotted her own light sabers dangling next to his. It would have been far too simple to reclaim her weapons and fight her way out. And that was why she restrained herself from doing just that. It could very well be a lure into a trap. She seated herself across from him, hoping for some space. "I am curious as to what you would want from me. I am not a particularly high ranking padawan or fighter."

"Such a shame. Anyone can feel the Force radiating off your skin." Animy shrugged. She was well aware of strong field of the Force that surrounded her person. It generally made all but the wisest Jedi Master uncomfortable to be close to her. Unfortunately, it was not exactly something that was completely in her control though she could lessen its reach with intense focus and meditation. "Surely, with that much power you should be a powerful master – or perhaps mistress – by now." Also not an assumption she hadn't heard before.

"I am merely a vessel of the Force. The fact that I overspill of it does not reflect my skills." She just had to keep him talking as she tried to formulate an escape. "What I wish to know is why an Empire lap Sith is now showing his face when the Alliance has taken power?"

"Oh, please. The failed Empire's plans have little worth for me. And Sith is such a harsh title, is it not?"

"Well you're certainly no Jedi." If her master was here now, she would be chided for her sharp tongue. Right now, however, it was the only weapon she had. She was no Silvertongue but she could weasel her way out of trouble if need be. The Trickster's brow shot up as if he had been offended.

"Is it that simple then? I'm clearly not this so I must be that? Surely, you are well aware that the galaxy is not so black and white."

"Of course not. But the Force-" A loud complaint from Animy's stomach interrupted her, causing the padawan to groan in embarrassment. This also caused the Trickster's lips to curl up into a smirk. They both knew the girl was hungry and that the delicious array of foods before her was not helping matters. "Is not shades of grey either," she finished, internally cursing her loud stomach. Apparently, it did not possess her steel will.

"Is it not?"

"No. It is not." Her captor shook his head with a dark chuckle, using his own Force powers to pour himself a neon blue drink. Animy found herself desperately wanting to slap the smirk off his face. It had barely left his pale features since he had entered the room. As if he knew she had little to no chance of escape from his grasp. "Surely, you're not holding me captive just to discuss the colors of the universe?"

"My dear girl, if you were being held captive, you wouldn't be so comfortable. No, I plan to make you an offer."

"An offer? For what?" The Trickster's smirk grew as he began to approach the girl, simply stepping on the table to cross it. Animy jumped as plates were disrupted by the Sith Lord's footsteps, crashing to the floor and throwing their contents everywhere. The Trickster didn't appear to be bothered by the chaos he had caused, keeping his emerald gaze on his prey as he sat beside her.

"Join me." He said it so calmly that Animy wasn't sure of how serious he was.

"W-what?"

"Join me, little one," he repeated. His arm snaked around her waist, pulling her closer to him. "Become my apprentice. Allow me to provide you with a more… thorough education of the Force and its powers." The Trickster's fingers gently tilted her chin farther up so he could study her currently frowning features. "I can show you wonders that would make your master's skills look like parlor tricks." He took a deep inhale of her scent, as if feeding off the field emanating from her and making her a little nauseous.

However, it provided an opening for the young Jedi to try and reclaim her weapons. Her lightsabers were just within her grasp, dangling unprotected from the Trickster's belt loop. It felt almost too easy again. She could almost hear Master Skywalker's euphemism for such situations, "I've got a bad feeling about this." Perhaps she should have listened to that advice.

When Animy tried to grab her lightsabers from his belt, her hands merely passed through the hilts. Her eyes widened in shock as her hands continued to pass through the "weapons." The Trickster smirked as he watched her confused struggles. "No matter how many times you reach, your lightsabers will not be there. You do not have that power."

"Wha… How?!"

"As I said, I know arts your masters cannot even dream of." With that the illusions faded away, affirming that he had merely been teasing her with her own weapons. His smirked melted into a full smile, one that seemed to relish the girl's confused wonder and fear. "And I can teach you these arts. I want to train you to your full potential and power. All you have to do is join me, Little One."

"Never!" Animy shoved herself away from the Trickster's grasp, glaring daggers through him. "I may still be a student but I'm not foolish enough to join the Dark Side. I know what happened to Anakin." The Trickster's emerald eyes rolled in annoyance.

"Dark Side, Light Side, what difference is there?"

"Oh I don't know, murderous Sith like you, peaceful jedi-"

"I am not a Sith," he interrupted, his voice dripping with disdain. When she met his now disinterested gaze with confusion, he continued, "That is a title your narrow minded masters have given me. I do not subscribe to such things as titles. Especially ones based on a dated philosophy on the Force and it's nature."

"So you are going to convince me you're a Jedi who worked for the Emperor and Darth Vader?"

"Of course I'm no Jedi. And I certainly did not 'work for' those idiotic youngling simpletons," the now undefined warrior explained with a glare. Animy sat at the farthest end of the couch from him, now somewhat intrigued.

"If you are not a Jedi but not a Sith either, how can you possibly manipulate the Force the way you do?"

"I am trained in the same arts you are currently training in for the most part. I simply do not limit myself to such rules such titles would box one as powerful as yourself or I into. And I understand the true power of the Force as few else do."

"You know… the last to say something like that was killed by his apprentice."

"Yes. Because Palpatine was a fool. I am not."

"Most do not recognize when they are a fool. Does not make them any less of one." The Trickster did not outright respond to that except to glare at her. She merely shrugged it off. "It's true."

"Perhaps." His words were now more clipped in response. "That's not our point. The discussion is I can provide you with training that will put this excessive Force within you in your control and allow you to meet its full potential."

"It is already in my control."

"Is it now? Is that what your masters tell you? That being able to only push or pull it around you is control?" Animy couldn't find a quick response to that. "You're not controlling it, Animy. It is controlling _you._"

"How do you know my name?"

"In due time, my dear. Stop interrupting please." The padawan frowned but remained silent, unnerved by what he seemed to know about her. He scooted closer, leaning in to meet her gaze. "This field surrounding you… you can lessen its reach but it never seems to dissipate does it?" Animy did not answer. "I know this is true without your thoughts. You flinch whenever you are touched. This is because you field makes all but the most powerful 'Jedi' or your closest family uncomfortable. Thus, anyone trying to touch you is foreign and strange." To illustrate his point, his knuckles passed down her cheek in a gentle caress, indeed causing the girl to flinch. The Trickster did not smirk as she expected but rather smiled, as if comforting a frightened child.

"This is my offer, child. A chance to feel the touch of another being without them fearing the Force within you. A chance to end your self-imposed isolation. I can show you how to bend the Force to your will and whim. Not for good or evil, such concepts are jokes created by fearful fools. But so you no longer have to be alone…" Animy couldn't deny how tempting his offer was. However…

"You speak as though the Force is a neutral force. Rather than separated into dark and light…"

"Not neutral at all. I see it as… a state of chaos. It is whatever the user makes it, thus as 'dark' or 'light' as one makes it."

"You said you don't believe in those titles."

"I don't. It is not as black and white as the Jedi or even the Sith make it out to be. The Force, in my experience, does not care what side you claim to be on. It does not bring 'peace' or 'power.' Only self-serving chaos. It only does what is necessary to survive through its vessel. So why play such a ridiculous game?" His hands found hers, his gaze now almost sympathetic. "Especially when it denies one something as necessary as physical contact?"

"Physical contact is not required for survival."

"For one's sanity perhaps then." Animy remained silent as the Trickster leaned closer to her. "You crave this. You long to touch and be touched without disturbing others. The path you're one now… You can never achieve this goal…"

"My wants are not important."

"Are they not?" Why should a beauty suffer in the name of peace?"

"I'm not suffering."

"So you say." The Sith Lord shook his head, releasing her hands. "Your mind has been warped to fit the Jedi Code. Their false sense of honor and justice has been drilled so deep…"

"Oh and you're one to judge about warped minds."

"Hmm… I don't recall Jedi being so sharp of the tongue."

"Well, I am only a padawan." Animy was actually enjoying getting under her captor's skin. Even if it was very unwise. What her master didn't know wouldn't hurt him. "A sharp tongue can be rather useful."

"Or damning." The glare she was now receiving was more than enough to keep her quiet. "My offer. What do you say?"

"No." Pretty words and a pretty face were certainly not enough to sway her mind. "Never."

"I see…" The padawan began to inch away from the man, preparing to fight her way out. She wasn't sure just how proficient a fighter he was but perhaps she could hold her own long enough to plan an escape. The Trickster's gaze remained unreadable, however, as it locked on her from over the side of his glass. "Well then…" he began as his drink clinked against the table. "I shall simply have to persuade you another way, won't I?" With that, the Trickster yanked Animy to him… and kissed her.


End file.
